$100 LY-706 MID Android tablet teardown

Cracking Open the $100 LY-706 MID tablet

Want a tablet, but don't want to spend $500 for an Apple iPad or Samsung Galaxy Tab? Then you might be tempted to purchase one of the many $100 Android tablets that are floating around the Web. These low-priced devices offer features similar to their higher-end cousins (touchscreen, built-in camera, and Wi-Fi). But, what's really inside a $100 tablet? We wanted to find out. So, we bought one from a site called FocalPrice.com -- the LY-706 MID Tablet Pad Netbook. Follow along as we take a peak at the hardware inside this low-cost tablet.

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As of this writing, FocalPrice lists the LY-706 tablet at $97.99 (US) with free shipping. The device has a 7-inch TFT-LCD (800x480 resolution) with resistive touchscreen, built-in speakers and microphone, and a 1.3MB front-facing camera. Inside the LY-706, you'll find a VIA MW8505 CPU, 2GB of NAND flash storage, and 256MB system memory. It also supports Wi-Fi.

The LY-706 comes with Android 1.6 installed.

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Opening the box

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Box contents

Inside the box are the LY-706 tablet, power adapter, USB/Ethernet port extender, stylus, and documentation.

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Front

The LY-706 weighs 805g (~1.77 lbs.) and measures 24.8 x 17 x 6.2 cm.

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Holding the LY-706

The LY-706 is a bit thincker than the iPad, but still feels comfortable in the hand.

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Bottom - Ports

Along the bottom of the LY-706 are the speaker grills, 3.5mm headphone jack, 30-pin connector, microSD card slot, and power connector.

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Along the right side of the LY-706 are the power button, volume buttons, and hole that doubles as the mic and reset button.

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Back

I've seen LY-706 devices with black and white back covers. Our unit has a shinny black one.

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Product markings

One of the strange things about the LY-706 tablet is the lack of identifying marks. Other than model number and input power voltage, there are no other markings that identify the device. And despite looking, I was never able to determine who actually assembled the LY-706.

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Removing the external case screws

The back case cover is held in place with two Phillips #0 screws located along the bottom edge. The first is clearly visible.

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Second hidden screws

The second external case screw is hidden behind a small white sticker with the markings QC.

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Display assembly popping up from back cover

Once I removed the external screws, the display assembly immediately popped up from the back cover. This was one of several occurances that illustrated the LY-706's poor assembly.

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Popping loose the back cover

Using a thin metal blade, I was able to pop the back cover away from the display assembly.

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Plastic speaker grills coming loose

As I popped off the back cover, the speaker grils (thin pieces of plastic) began to come loose from the display assembly.

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Plastic speaker grills

Instead of having metal or even plastic speaker grills attached to the back cover or integrated with the speakers, the LY-706 uses extremely thin pieces of pliable plastic. This was the second indication that the device's construction wasn't on the same level as the Apple iPad or Samsung Galaxy tab.

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First look inside

With the back cover removed, we get our first look inside the LY-706 tablet. The batteries, main PCB, and a few secondary PCBs are clearly visible.

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Loose screw inside the case

As I removed the LY-706's back cover, I heard something rattling inside. The culprit was a small Phillips screw that should have been helping hold the main PCB in place.

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Inside the LY-706 tablet

Inside the LY-706, we find the main PCB (right side), a small PCB the holds the camera (left side), a small PCB that holds the right side buttons and microphone, a small PCB that holds the wireless chip, battery pack, and display.

Unfortunately, many of the internal components are soldered to the main PCB. We'll need to remove them and the main PCB as a single unit.

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Removing the right-side button PCB screws

We'll start dissecting the LY-706's internal components, by removing the small PCB that houses the right-side buttons and microphone. It is held to the front half of the plastic case with two Phillips screws.

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Removing the right-side button PCB

Once the screws are removed, you can release the catch on the ribbon cable connector and lift the small PCB away from the LY-706 tablet.

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Right-side button PCB - Bottom

Each of the buttons on this small PCB are labled. From left to right are the reset, volume down, volume up, and power buttons.

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Right-side button PCB - Top

Flipping the right-side button PCB over, we see the actual buttons and the microphone.

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Camera PCB

Another small PCB contains the LY-706's front-facing 1.3MP camera. Unfortunately, the PCB is permanently attached to the front case. I could remove the board, but it would require breaking the connections that hold it to the case.

I'm going to leave this PCB in place, but disconnect it from the main PCB.

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Disconnecting the camera wires

Luckily the wires that connect the main PCB and camera PCB are not soldered to the small board.

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Disconnecting the right-side button pcb ribbon cable

Next, I'll disconnect the other end of the thin ribbon cable the connects the right-side button PCB to the motherboard.

We've already removed the right-side button PCB, but this ribbon cable is also attached to the underside of the battery pack. Disconnecting this end may make it eaiser to remove the main PCB later.

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Disconnecting the LCD backlight wires

Next to the battery wires, which are soldered to the main PCB, is a connector with red and black wires that run to the LCD. There are likely wires for the backlight on the LCD.

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LCD backlight wires disconnected

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LCD and touchscreen ribbon cables

The last two cables to disconnect are for the LCD (wided, gray ribbon cable) and resistive touchscreen (narrower, yellow ribbon cable).

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LCD and touchscreen ribbon cables disconnected

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Bending back the LCD and touchscreen ribbon cables

After disconnecting the ribbon cables, I bent them back slightly to make the main PCB easier to remove.

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Removing the main PCB screws

With all the cables disconnected, I removed the three remaining screws that hold the main PCB in place. A fourth screw had was loose in the case when I opened the LY-706.

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Wires taped to batter pack

I'll also need to remove the tape that holds the LCD backlight wires to the battery pack.

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Detaching the LCD backlight wire from the battery

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Removing the speakers from the case

The LY-706's two internal speakers are soldered to the motherboard. We'll need to separate them from the the plastic case before removing the main PCB.

Using a thin metal blade, you can gently pry them loose from the adhesive tape that holds them in place.

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Ready to lift out the LCD, main PCB, and attached components

With all the internal cables, screws, and stuck components free, we can begin to lift the LCD, main PCB, and attached components away from the front half of the LY-706's case.

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Removing the LCD, main PCB, and attached components

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W-Fi PCB

A smaller, green PCB is attached to the front case panel and located under the main PCB. It's wires are soldered to the main PCB, so we'll need to remove it from the front case panel.

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Removing the Wi-Fi PCB

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Main PCB, battery back, and attached components removed

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Resistive touchscreen

With most of the internal components removed, we can see the LY-706's resistive touchscreen.

Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublicCaption by: Bill Detwiler

Plastic touchscreen

Unlike nearly all the smartphones and tablets I've cracked open, the LY-706 use a touchscreen made from layers of thin, flexible plastic instead of glass. Here you can see me peeling a corner of the top layer away from the front case's hard plastic edge.

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Mysterious wad of glue

I'm not really sure what this wad of glue was designed to hold in place.

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LCD, main PCB, and attached components

The LY-706's battery back is attached to the back of the LCD with adhesive. Next, we'll need to separate the two.

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Removing the battery pack from the LCD

Using a thin blade, I was able to slice through the adhesive that holds the battery pack to the back of the LCD.

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Internal components

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LCD

As previously noted, the LY-706 has a 7-inch (diagonally) screen which delivers a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels.

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LCD ribbon cable markings

There are no markings on the LCD that indicate who made it. (At least none that I could find.) But, there are a few markings on the ribbon cable and a sticker attached to the cable.

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LCD sticker

A sticker on the back of the LCD unit reads:

EB

HSD7.0-LED12

D043-16-101029-0023311

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Main PCB and attached components - Top

The wireless PCB, battery pack, and speakers are soldered to the main PCB.

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Main PCB and attached components - Back

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Battery pack

The LY-706 has a battery pack with two 3.7V 5.55Wh batteries. I've read several complaints about the device having extremely poor battery life. And, TechRepublic's own Mark Kaelin reported getting only two hours of battery life under normal use.

For the record, neither the FocalPrice site nor the documentation included with the LY-706 lists an average battery life.

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Ralink RT2070L 802.11n Wireless LAN USB Adapter - Top

The LY-706 provides Wi-Fi support through a Ralink RT2070L 802.11n Wireless LANUSB Adapter. The RT2070L appears to be one of Ralink's older, discontinued chips.

Oddly enough, the small PCB to which the IC is mounted has the markings for the Ralink RT3070--one of the company's newer Wi-Fi ICs.

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Ralink RT2070L 802.11n Wireless LAN USB Adapter - Back

There don't appear to be any antenna wires mounted inside the LY-706.

Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublicCaption by: Bill Detwiler

Samsung 2GB NAND Flash chip (K9GAG08U0M)

The LY-706 has a single Samsung 2GB NAND Flash chip (K9GAG08U0M) for storage.

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VIA WonderMedia WM8505 ARM-based CPU

The LY-706 is powered by VIA Technolgoy's WonderMedia WM8505 ARM-based CPU. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find a clock speed for the specific chip used in this device. I've read reports of number ranging between 300MHz and 600MHz.

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Hynix DDR SDRAM modules (HY5PS1G831C)

The LY-706 has two Hynix DDR SDRAM modules (HY5PS1G831C). According to the product specs, the device has 256MB of system memory. But according to Hynix's online documentation, these modules only come in 1GB and 2GB configurations.

Cracking Open the $100 LY-706 MID tablet

Want a tablet, but don't want to spend $500 for an Apple iPad or Samsung Galaxy Tab? Then you might be tempted to purchase one of the many $100 Android tablets that are floating around the Web. These low-priced devices offer features similar to their higher-end cousins (touchscreen, built-in camera, and Wi-Fi). But, what's really inside a $100 tablet? We wanted to find out. So, we bought one from a site called FocalPrice.com -- the LY-706 MID Tablet Pad Netbook. Follow along as we take a peak at the hardware inside this low-cost tablet.

Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublicCaption by: Bill Detwiler

About Bill Detwiler

Bill Detwiler is Managing Editor of TechRepublic and Tech Pro Research and the host of Cracking Open, CNET and TechRepublic's popular online show. Prior to joining TechRepublic in 2000, Bill was an IT manager, database administrator, and desktop supp...

Disclosure

Bill Detwiler has nothing to disclose. He doesn't hold investments in the technology companies he covers.

Full Bio

Bill Detwiler is Managing Editor of TechRepublic and Tech Pro Research and the host of Cracking Open, CNET and TechRepublic's popular online show. Prior to joining TechRepublic in 2000, Bill was an IT manager, database administrator, and desktop support specialist in the social research and energy industries. He has bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Louisville, where he has also lectured on computer crime and crime prevention.